Elon Musk Wants To Crash The International Space Station Into The Earth 3 Years Early

Humans have been living continuously in space for nearly 25 years, with astronauts and cosmonauts living aboard the spacecraft since astronaut Bill Shepherd and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev first boarded the International Space Station (ISS) on Halloween, 2000.

But all good things must come to an end, and in 2024, NASA began planning for the final stage of the orbiting laboratory’s life. The American space agency announced in June that they had selected Musk’s SpaceX to develop and build the Deorbit Vehicle that will be used to bring the space station safely down to Earth, a contract worth around $843 million.

“Selecting a US Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations. This decision also supports NASA’s plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement at the time. “The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships in space for the benefit of all.”

 

The planned deorbit was scheduled for 2030. The initial pieces of the ISS were launched in 1998, and by the time operations are over in 2030, they will have been in space for two years longer than their planned lifespan. It is these parts, forming the structure of the space station, that mean the ISS can not continue beyond 2030. 

“Much of the space station can be repaired or replaced in orbit, while other parts can be returned to the ground for repair and relaunched. These parts include the solar arrays, communications equipment, life support equipment, and science hardware,” NASA explains. “However, the primary structure of the station, such as the crewed modules and the truss structures, cannot be repaired or replaced practically.”

While NASA – with its international partners – planned to continue to use the space station up to 2030, Musk says that he would like to bring the station down three years ahead of schedule.

“It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the @Space_Station. It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let’s go to Mars,” he wrote on X, adding, “The decision is up to the President, but my recommendation is as soon as possible. I recommend 2 years from now.”

Musk has been pretty consistent in his views that the US space agency should focus on going to Mars. However, as highlighted by the Orlando Sentinel, deorbiting the ISS early could give SpaceX a further advantage over Boeing. 

SpaceX has been running cargo missions to the space station twice a year, as well as delivering crew to and from Earth. Boeing was supposed to begin sharing these resupply missions using its Starliner ship, assuming it could get the troubled spaceship up to regulations, with up to six trips contracted.

If the ISS is deorbited by 2027, these trips would be unnecessary. SpaceX missions to the ISS would be canceled too, though an earlier deorbit potentially means an earlier cashflow injection. With President Donald Trump’s pick for NASA administrator being Jared Isaacman, a billionaire with close ties to Elon Musk, Musk might be hoping that further contracts will be on the table. Without Boeing in the picture, SpaceX would maintain its current advantage in private space travel.

It remains to be seen whether Trump will support Musk’s call for an early deorbit, though the US president has spent his first month in office claiming (incorrectly) that the crewmembers left on the ISS following the Starliner failure have been left there for political reasons, making similar comments to Musk.

It is also unclear whether the US would be able to deorbit the ISS without the backing of the four other agencies involved. The International Space Station is, as the name clearly states, international.

“The station was designed to be interdependent and relies on contributions from across the partnership to function. The United States, Japan, Canada, and the participating countries of ESA have committed to operating the station through 2030. Russia has committed to continued station operations through at least 2028,” NASA said in June 2024. “The safe deorbit of the International Space Station is the responsibility of all five space agencies.”

With no replacement, the astronauts aboard China’s Tiangong space station will become humanity’s only permanent presence in space. Musk apparently wants that point to come a little sooner than planned.